Elected officials had better pay attention to mood of the country

I mentioned the return to politics as usual last week, but our elected officials had better pay attention to the mood of the country if they want to continue in office when their terms are up next time. I talk to people wherever I go, and most are thoroughly fed up with party line rhetoric. We want to return to the times of getting our money's worth from people we elect to office.

Riding the curve of feel good political expediency isn't going to cut it anymore, right wing or left wing. The role of government is to enable people to accomplish local or national projects through a vote of the constituency that is going to be affected by any such project; i.e. paying for the project. Social projects are a bit trickier, but mean as it may sound ,the people paying for any such social project should be able to approve it through some kind o vote.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the Republicans may have lost the presidential election because so many right leaning people simply did not believe in their candidates after hearing so many different stances taken during the campaign.

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The matter of powerful men not keeping their pants on when they should have has been going on since history has been recorded. I should think we should start making them wear a cologne no one can stand, but even then, people are attracted to power. What is bothersome is these powerful men, and now women, who will do nearly anything to cover up are susceptible to blackmail. As an example, Herbert Hoover took full advantage of that fact to maintain his control of the FBI.

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The powerful push to make Medicare more accountable is resulting in more and more paperwork for the person receiving the care, and the caregiver. An example: being a diabetic. Now the person with the disease has to keep a log accounting for every time they test for sugar to justify getting test strips, and the doctor has to verify the log. The new requirements are too numerous to mention, with the exception of coding. Coding is a set of numbers Medicare attaches to every procedure, prescription, and whatever else they can think of, and if the doctor does not get it right on the submittal, it is denied for payment. There is quite a bit of difference between a supplemental insurance and a secondary insurance, which, thanks to belonging to the Operating Engineers union, I have. Doctors will accept a patient with secondary insurance over someone who has a supplemental insurance because the secondary will pay for items denied by medicare, and a supplemental will not.

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Folks are taking a long time to gather their political signs, aren't they? I know they are effective, but they are also an annoying eyesore after the voting is done.

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I have a bit of learning I would like to impart to barbecuers out there. Being naturally indolent, I'm always looking for easier ways to do something, and after spending an inordinate amount of time cleaning the grill, I got to thinking. Sometimes this is good, and sometimes this is kinda wrong, but this time, it worked. I was using Pam on a pan that sticks and the idea was born - why not the grill? Well, the first time I tried it, the grill was on, and I got my eyebrows singed a bit. Being a fast learner, I tried it again, with the same results - not quite as bad, though. The third time, I sprayed the Pam on the grill when the grill was off, and it worked. I just wiped the grill off, and it was clean again. For you fast learners out there, remember, be sure the grill is off.

- Charles Lawson is a native Nevadan, retired contractor/project manager and longtime Lyon County resident. E-mail him at cel@ableweb.net.

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Elected officials had better pay attention to mood of the country

I mentioned the return to politics as usual last week, but our elected officials had better pay attention to the mood of the country if they want to continue in office when their terms are up next

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